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Cotton Club (Las Vegas)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cotton Club
Map
Address500 Jackson Avenue
Las Vegas, Nevada
United States
Opened1944
Closed1957

The Cotton Club was a club at 500 Jackson Avenue in the West Side of Las Vegas, Nevada, which was an exclusive club for African Americans.[1]

History

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Established in late 1944 as a small bar by Moe Taub,[2][3] it was one of the earliest Black clubs to legally operate away from Downtown Las Vegas. Sarann Knight-Preddy become a keno writer for the club,[4] and in 1950 she became the first black woman to hold a gaming license in Nevada.[2]

In July 1947 the Cotton Club was sold to Jodie Cannon, who resold it less than 6 months later to Uvalde Caperton, though Cannon stayed on as a manager.[2] The original club was destroyed by an explosion and fire in May 1948.[5] Caperton owned the club until 1957, when it closed.[2]

Later years

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In 1969, Preddy put in a club with Margie Elliot called the Playhouse Lounge at the location. They were unable to obtain a gaming license and after a year, sold the business.[6] It reopened from 1970 to 1985 as "Love's Cocktail Lounge".[2]

References

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  1. ^ Ebony. Johnson Pub.Company. 1953. p. 144.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Westside" (PDF). Casino Collectable News. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  3. ^ Roman 2011, pp. 102–103.
  4. ^ McKee 2014, p. 34.
  5. ^ "Cotton Club Destroyed". San Bernardino County Sun. May 13, 1948. p. 2. Retrieved September 21, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  6. ^ White 1997, pp. 52–53.

Bibliography

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